Doc: Baseball still a kid's game

Jun. 14, 2012

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips celebrates his home run in the third inning. / The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

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On a two-ball, two-strike fastball a little low and a little away, Brandon Phillips stuck out his bat (literally) and his tongue (metaphorically) and guided a bases-loaded single to right field that scored two runs. It was the defining moment in the Reds’ 12-5 clobberation of Cleveland Thursday. Phillips marked it by stretching his arms wide in celebration of self, practically before he left the batter’s box.

He still likes beating Cleveland, the club that gave him his start, then gave him the gate. He still likes showing he likes beating Cleveland. Baseball is a little kid’s game, and sometimes Brandon Phillips still plays it that way. He’d have clicked his heels on the way down to first base, had it occurred to him.

“I really didn’t mean to do all that,’’ Phillips explained afterward. “Some things I do, I don’t do it on purpose. It just happens.’’ Spontaneous joy always has been a big part of Phillips’ game. If you’re a Reds fan, it’s mostly delightful. If you’re not, it’s something else.

Baseball is full of mysterious and weird codes of conduct. Don’t admire your home runs. Don’t circle the bases too quickly as you admire your home runs. Or too slowly. If your pitcher hits one of our guys, our pitcher’s gonna hit one of yours. And heaven help you if you Show Anybody Up.

Dusty Baker got into it with Indians starting pitcher Derek Lowe Wednesday night. No one but Baker and Lowe seems to know exactly why, but Baker ordered his pitcher, Mat Latos, to “buzz’’ Lowe, when Lowe came to bat.

Lowe ripped Baker afterward. Baker retaliated Thursday, suggesting Lowe has in the past sampled an adult soda or two during ballgames. And so on. Part of the stated reason for the bad blood was that Lowe hit Joey Votto with a pitch. . . three years ago.

Apparently, the statute of limitations for that sort of thing runs as deep as memory. St. Louis fans still boo Phillips mightily, for something that occurred in August of 2010.

A good thing about Brandon Phillips is, as much as he tries to embrace that weird, stodgy baseball etiquette, he’s still nagging around its edges. He tries to be a good Baseball Guy, but he’s not there yet, thank goodness. Phillips is out there having fun, like a kid. Only now, he has matured as a player, to the point where he can accept that the Indians walked Votto to load the bases, so they could pitch to Phillips.

And instead of swinging out of his cleats seeking longball retribution, Phillips took a fastball to the opposite field. The two-run single gave the Reds a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning.The rest was clobberin’ time at the silly little ballpark on the river. Five more balls left the playing field Thursday, in the first five innings. Step right up. You, too, can go yard at the Small Park.

In his previous at-bat, Phillips had ushered a Josh Tomlin fastball on a 420-foot flight to left. He had eight hits and seven RBI in the three-game sweep and is hitting .356 in 149 career at-bats against the Indians.

Phillips talks like a ballplayer when he says those responsible for getting him gone from Cleveland are no longer around, so neither is his grudge. He talks like Brandon when he says, “Deep down inside, it feels good to beat up on the Tribe.’’

Phillips says stuff that other players think. He fields questions the way he fields line drives that seem impossibly out of his reach. The flair on the field often translates to the quotes off it. His showman’s personality would be embraced in the NBA and the NFL. In musty old baseball, it’s frowned upon.

“I feel like I’m doing my job right now,’’ Baseball Brandon said, and he is. He has 19 RBI in the last two and a half weeks. The yowls from the bleachers – and, yes, from This Space – that Baker should free Phillips from batting fourth – might subside some, if he keeps this up.

“I’m getting comfortable hitting fourth,’’ he said. He’s also healthy in both his legs. Even Phillips said, “I’m not a cleanup hitter, but I am on this team.’’ Until the Reds find a suitable replacement – and they need one, Phillips’ recent success notwithstanding – he will be there, watching everyone walk Votto intentionally.

Taking it a little personally, and enjoying the triumphs. Showmanship isn’t the same as showing someone up.